Works by Picasso, Monet, Matisse, Gauguin and Lucian Freud were stolen from Rotterdam's Kunsthal gallery in 2012. Three Romanian suspects were arrested in January, but the paintings have not been found. Instead, one of the suspect’s mothers told the police that she had burned the stolen works in a wood-burning stove in an attempt to free her son from prosecution due to lack of evidence.

These works, which include Waterloo Bridge, London, painted by Monet in 1901, are now among hundreds of valuable missing paintings. Once a painting has been stolen, it can stay underground or undiscovered for years or even decades, making the crime even harder to solve, as leads become less tangible and ownership is passed down through generations.

With help from the Art Loss Register, here are the top 10 most wanted paintings which have gone missing in mysterious circumstances.

As art thefts go, the disappearance of Lucian Freud's portrait of Francis Bacon was unusual. For 25 years there have been no rumours or information about its location, whereas criminal gangs usually await a ransom before dropping hints. Freud designed his own 'wanted' poster for the stolen image, but even this didn't elicit a response. Instead, the portrait is thought to have been taken from Berlin's Neue Nationalgalerie by a Bacon fan or student, as the gallery was full of students at the time.

Rembrandt van Rijn's Storm of the Sea of Galilee

Disappeared in: 1990 Reward offered: £3.2 million

The Storm of the Sea of Galilee was one of the 13 artworks taken from Boston's Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in America's biggest art theft. More than 20 years later, the FBI's investigation into the crime is still open, with a $5 million reward on offer for information leading to finding the paintings in good condition.

A pair of thieves stole the art after posing as police officers and museum guards allowed them entry. They managed to handcuff both guards on duty and trapped them in the basement while they robbed the gallery.

Picasso, Le Pigeon aux peitis pois

Disappeared in: 2010 Reward offered: Undisclosed

Unfortunately, it's fairly conclusive that this Picasso is unlikely to re-emerge. Shortly after it was stolen from the Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, the thief threw it in a bin which was emptied before authorities learned of its contents. If the painting hasn't been destroyed, it has a very wealthy owner out there somewhere – the painting is worth more than £20 million at auction.

Picasso's Harlequin Head

Disappeared in: October 2012 Reward offered: Undisclosed

This 1971 piece by Picasso was taken in the aforementioned Dutch Kunsthal Gallery theft. It is not yet clear if the remains of the paintings have been found in the ashes.

Jan Van Eyck's The Just Judges from the Ghent Altarpiece

Disappeared in: 1934 Reward offered: Undisclosed – although one million Belgian francs (£21,300) were demanded as a ransom.

This painting was part of the Ghent Altarpiece at the Belgian city's Saint Bavo Cathedral. It was carefully removed from its panels during the night in April 1934 and replaced with a note: "Taken from Germany by the Treaty of Versaille". A ransom was demanded but the Bishop of Ghent refused to pay it, although further negotations were made through letters later in 1934. When the thief was on his deathbed a few weeks later, he insisted that he would take the secret of the masterpiece's location to his grave.

Cézanne's View of Auvers-sur-Oise

Disappeared in: 2000 Reward offered: Undisclosed

As Oxford's revellers were welcoming in the Millenium, a criminal used the opportunity to break into the city's Ashmolean Museum and steal Cezanne's painting, View of Auvers-sur-Oise. The painting is still unlocated, although no public reward has been offered for information.

Raphael's Portrait of a Young Man

Disappeared in: 1945 Reward offered: Undisclosed

The 16th-century oil painting disappeared at the end of World War II. Although the painting was rescued from the Czartoryski Museum,Kraków, in 1939, it was taken by the Gestapo to decorate Hitler's Berlin residence. In 1945, senior Nazi official Hans Frank took the paintings from the Führer's collection to the royal Wawel Castle. It has not been seen since, apart from in popular culture references: Portrait of a Young Man has popped up in The Simpsons.

Caravaggio's Nativity with St Francis and St Lawrence

Disappeared in: 1969 Reward offered: Undisclosed

Caravaggio's Nativity hung in the Oratory of San Lorenzo in Palermo, Sicily, until 1969, when it was removed from its frame and then the church. The local Mafia are the prime suspects, although the 17th-century painting's location remains unknown. There have been several theories about what happened to it, however, including being destroyed by rats and pigs after being hidden in a farmhouse. More recently, a former Mafia hitman-turned-informer said it was burned in the Eighties.

Van Gogh's Congregation Leaving the Reformed Church in Nuene

Disappeared in: 2002 Reward offered: £870,000

This painting is one of two stolen from the Vincent van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam in December 2002. Two thieves broke into the building through the roof, and managed to steal Congregation Leaving the Reformed Church in Neunen and View of the Sea at Scheveningen in just a few minutes. Together, the works are thought to be worth £25 million. Although Dutch police convicted two men a year later, the paintings remain unrecovered.

Vermeer's The Concert

Disappeared in: 1990 Reward offered: £3.2 million

This Vermeer painting was also a victim of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum theft. Valued at £130 million, it is thought to be the most valuable unrecovered stolen painting in history.